COMEDY CENTRAL RE-COMMISSIONS STAND UP CENTRAL AND CHRIS RAMSEY TAKES THE REINS
COMEDY CENTRAL RE-COMMISSIONS STAND UP CENTRAL AND CHRIS RAMSEY TAKES THE REINS

LONDON, 9th May 2017 – Comedy Central today announced that it will re-commission Stand Up Central for a third series and has unveiled CHRIS RAMSEY as the host of the new series.

Commissioned as an 8 x 30-minute series, and produced by Avalon Television, Stand Up Central will begin filming in June 2017 at the Electric Ballroom in Camden and will follow the same format of the previous top-rating series. Each episode will involve Chris – one of the country’s most sought-after comedic talents and presenter of The Chris Ramsey Show – welcoming two guests on stage to perform in front of a live audience. The show will air later this year in autumn 2017 on Comedy Central UK.

‘Chris is one of the UK’s finest comedic stars and already a well-loved face on Comedy Central,” commented Louise Holmes, Vice President, Programming, Comedy Central UK.

“We’re excited that with Chris and his unique brand of Geordie likeability at the helm, the upcoming series will continue to delight our comedy fans whilst also attracting new viewers to the channel.”

Chris Ramsey said “I’m over the moon to be given the role as host of Stand Up Central. I do a lot of things on TV but stand up is, and always will be my main passion, so the chance to get to do more of it on TV and also bring other great comedians to the attention of the public is one I could not have missed.”

The two previous series of Stand Up Central delivered strong ratings for the channel. First launching in 2015, the show has reached 3.1 million Individuals across Comedy Central and Comedy Central Extra and has almost doubled Comedy Central’s average audience in its TX slot.

The announcement is part of Comedy Central UK’s ongoing push to diversify its British comedy offering and increase the volume of non-scripted comedy it broadcasts. Most recently, Comedy Central has commissioned Talkback to produce two new series of the noughties gameshow, Your Face or Mine, which is set to air this month, launched brand new non-scripted series, The Chris Ramsey Show in January (Avalon) and is currently airing a third series of Drunk History UK (Tiger Aspect).

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 For more information please contact: Charlotte Robertshaw on 0207 598 7222 or charlotter@avalonuk.com

 About Avalon Television
Avalon Television is a completely independently owned production house operating out of New York, Los Angeles and London.  Avalon Television are also currently in production with: BAFTA nominated Taskmaster (UKTV in the UK and Comedy Central in the USA), a third series of Unspun with Matt Forde (Dave), the multi award winning international hit, Catastrophe (Channel 4 and Amazon); a fourth series of the critically acclaimed sitcom, Man Down (Channel 4) the Emmy winning, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) and the BBC’s longest running sitcom, Not Going Out (BBC One).

About Comedy Central UK:
Comedy Central is a leading Pay TV General Entertainment channel and is part of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN). A joint venture between VIMN (75%) and BSkyB (25%), Comedy Central airs on the Sky and Virgin Media platforms. Comedy Central launched in the UK in April 2009 and has since grown by a phenomenal +41%. The channel broadcasts a mix of hit US acquisitions and original UK productions targeting a 16-34 year-old audience. Popular shows include Friends, Impractical Jokers, The Middle, South Park and Bob’s Burgers. Following on from  the success of Comedy Central’s first UK Commission in 2012 (Threesome – which received both critical acclaim and high ratings), the channel has ramped up its commitment to original titles. Most recently these include The Chris Ramsey Show (2017), I Live With Models (2015), Drunk History (2015) and Russell Howard & Mum: USA Road Trip (2016) – which has proved to be the highest UK commission Comedy Central has ever seen. In addition to the main Comedy Central channel are Comedy Central +1, Comedy Central Extra and Comedy Central Extra +1 providing audiences with more viewing opportunities and more fantastic content.